Serena Upset In Wimbledon Final
Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon at age 17 Saturday, defeating two-time defending champion Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4.
Sharapova became the first Russian to win a Wimbledon singles title, and the third-youngest women's champion in history.
After Williams hit a forehand into the net to end the 73-minute match, Sharapova dropped to her knees at the baseline and covered her face with her hands. She raised her arms and walked to the net, where Williams greeted her warmly.
Sharapova pumped her fists, whacked a ball into the stands and climbed into the guest box to hug her father, Yuri. She pulled out a cell phone and tried to call her mother but couldn't get through immediately.
Sharapova accepted the winner's trophy - the Venus Rosewater dish - from the Duke of Kent.
"I want to cut up this trophy and give it to everybody, this whole crowd," she said.
Turning to Williams, Sharapova said, "I have to take this trophy from you for one year. I'm sorry. ... I'm sure we're going to be here one more time and hopefully many more times in other Grand Slams and fight for the trophy. Thank you for giving me a tough match but I'm sorry I had to win today."
CBS News Correspondent Richard Roth notes that Sharapova will now be facing pressure "in a big-money sport where popularity and performance both count for riches."
"Center court failure didn't keep another photogenic Russian, Anna Kournikova, from making a fortune in product endorsements," Roth pointed out. "Sharspova's not just taller (six-feet tall), she could be bigger."
Michael Mewshaw, author of "Ladies of the Court," told Roth Sharapova is sort of the antidote to Kournikova: "She's good looking and she's a good player. ...(Sharapova has just won Wimbledon) and looks like somebody who will win many, many titles, and grace the product line of many, many sponsorship deals."
On the men's side, defending champion Roger Federer and Andy Roddick each won their semifinal matches Saturday to set up a championship showdown between the top two seeded players.
Sharapova, playing in her first Grand Slam final, put on a virtuoso performance against the six-time Grand Slam winner. She showed no signs of nerves and kept Williams on the defensive, hitting 17 winners and only 11 errors.
"It wasn't my day," a gracious Williams told the Centre Court crowd. "Maria played a really good match. Congratulations on your first Grand Slam."
Federer needed 29 minutes and four match points to complete a 6-2, 6-3, 7-6 (6) win over Sebastien Grosjean, extending his grass-court winning streak to 23 matches.
Roddick beat 20-year-old Mario Ancic, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to reach his first Wimbledon final and second Grand Slam championship match. He won last year's U.S. Open.
It will be the first Wimbledon men's final between the top two seeded players since 1982.
"I'm excited," Roddick said. "He's the best and I want to go for a match up against him. We're both going to come out firing. I can't wait."
Sharapova is the youngest women's champion since Martina Hingis, who was 16 when she won in 1997. The youngest champion was Lottie Dod, who was 15 when she won the 1887 title.
Sharapova halted Williams' bid to become only the third woman in 35 years to win three consecutive titles. She also ended the Williams family's four-year hold on the trophy. Venus Williams won in 2000 and 2001, while Serena beat her older sister in the final the next two years.
Sharapova showed right from the outset that she wasn't intimidated by Williams. She moved her from side to side. She stepped in on short balls and knocked off winners. She mixed searing groundstrokes with topspin lobs. She pumped her fists.
From 1-1, Sharapova won five straight games to win the opening set in 30 minutes. Williams went up a break at 4-2 in the second, but Sharapova broke right back and won the last four games.
Sharapova was born in Siberia, moved to Florida at age 7 and joined Nick Bollettieri's tennis academy. The 6-foot blonde has a modeling contract, drawing comparisons to Anna Kournikova. But, unlike Kournikova, she can win tournaments. Sharapova had three tour titles coming into Wimbledon.
Both men's semis had been suspended late Friday after a day of rain delays. Federer had been two games from victory, while Roddick led 6-4, 4-3.
Federer came from 0-4 down in the tiebreaker to close out his match in straight sets.
"I'm very pleased," he said. "It's very difficult to stop at such a moment of the match. I'm very relieved. You never know what happens if he can turn it around."
Roddick, meanwhile, was broken immediately by Ancic and lost the second set. In a match interrupted twice by rain Saturday, Roddick held serve the rest of the way and broke Ancic once in each of the next two sets. Ancic was 2-11 on break points and 0-7 in the last two sets.
Roddick closed out the third set with the help of four consecutive big first serves, including aces of 140 mph and 133 mph.
A shaky service game by Ancic led to the only service break in the final set, giving Roddick a 6-5 lead. On the first point, Ancic's racket slipped out of his hand as he hit a second serve, and he could only watch as Roddick returned the shot for a winner.
Ancic double-faulted to fall behind 15-40, then double-faulted again to lose the game.
Roddick needed 12 more points to close out the victory. He double-faulted, hitting a 125-mph second serve long, to reach break point. Then he hit another 125-mph second serve for a winner and deuce.
Two points later, Roddick had the victory with a forehand winner down the line. He looked to the sky, grinned, whacked a ball into the stands and doffed his cap to the Court 1 crowd.
The last time the top two seeded players met in the men's final was in 1982 when No. 2 Jimmy Connors beat No. 1 John McEnroe.
Federer will be playing in his third Grand Slam final. After winning Wimbledon last summer, he won the Australian Open in February and took over the No. 1 ranking.
Federer's 23-match winning streak on grass ties him with three-time champion McEnroe and seven-time winner Pete Sampras. Only Bjorn Borg (41 straight) had a longer run.